Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wanderbeast]

Hello all,

My boyfriend and I are searching for jobs to start in the summer - it's our first time teaching. My boyfriend had already agreed to be part of a wedding party in December, which we figured wouldn't be a problem because most jobs advertise 10 days vacation; we just assumed we could take our 10 days at that time. However, we've been offered two jobs so far - both with private schools - and both require that we split up our vacation days - 5 in the summer term and 5 in the winter term - and the days that we can take are prefixed. I'm just wondering if this is the norm with vacation time? Or are there jobs out there that are flexible on when vacation days are taken? I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

[jrwhite82]

Yes it is the norm.

A word to the wise. Choosing to move to another country to work for a year or two is a great experience. However, it comes at the expense of not being able to go home for any reason. Living abroad means you miss out on weddings, births, bachelor parties, birthday parties. You might miss out on a funeral too if you aren't that close to the person who died.

So if you know that you have plans that you can't miss out on, it's best to come after that obligation.

Granted, you are not a slave here, so most reasonable bosses would give you time if you really needed it without making too much of a stink(funerals). But to knowingly accept a job where the vacation time is set (which is the norm) and then to request more time off is kind of ridiculous. As you could imagine. These businesses need their teachers to run. Especially the foreign teachers. Parents pay a lot of money to have their kids sitting in your class. If you're not there it hurts your bosses business big time.

Go to the wedding first, then come to Korea. Or keep looking for something with more flexibility (which will take a while). Have you thought about the public school programs? They usually allow a little flexibility as long as the wedding falls during school vacation time (late July-August or late December-February)

[thegadfly]

I have never heard of a newbie contract containing discretionary vacation time -- it is almost always either set, or granted at the convenience of the school (that is, they give you a choice of when you might take it, but it is usually within a narrow timeframe -- for example, you may be able to choose the last week of a semester, but not in the middle of a term).

Some people get extra vacation time, that they may choose to take when they wish, but it is often a result of negotiation or of re-signing for a second or subsequent year. For example, I have two extra weeks of vacation that I may take, but I can only take one week at a time, and may not take both weeks within the same calendar month...but these extra weeks were granted as a result of being in the same school for quite a while (got the first extra week in my 2nd year here, the second extra week in my 4th year in the school...which topped out my extra vacation time).

If your boyfriend is upfront with the schools, and plays up the importance of the wedding (talk about being there for a family member), they may agree to it, even though it is not standard or common. Simply hoping for a school that will agree to granting vacation when your boyfriend chooses, without this "prep work" will probably not yield the preferred outcome....

However, it MIGHT be possible to find a school that grants its vacation time during the time when your boyfriend needs to be back home....

Good luck!

[YTMND]

[IslandmanPT]

As others said, it's pretty darn difficult to get extra time off that does not fall during the specified vacation days.

However, I do know some people who have agreed with their private school to go home for a wedding or other important event...but on certain conditions:

1. They lose the pay during that time
2. They must find a replacement for that week (or however long), someone who is on a visa that allows for taking up extra teaching or has a more flexible schedule (like someone on an F4 visa or someone married to a Korean.)

[Hokie21]

Also if you are both working at the same place good luck getting management to allow BOTH of you off at the same time.

[tardisrider]

[Hokie21]

[thebektionary]

Like everyone else basically said, you don't get to pick when your vacation days are. They are picked for you.

[sho]

Are you set on private? In public there is more leeway, and more vacation days.

(And of course there are pros and cons to public vs. private which I won't get into here).

I'm doing public and I get 10 days off summer and 10 days off winter. I have to take them during an allotted time period (ie. while school is out), but within that time period they're pretty flexible (we do an English camp but it can be planned around when I'm here).

I think when I was looking at a private job that it would have been negotiable for me to find and pay someone to cover for me while I took vacation (I was in the same wedding position � bridesmaid in a June wedding). Ultimately though, I decided that if worse came to worse I would just have to go for a weekend. (None of that came to pass because I ended up coming later).